150 comments on “Florence Nightingale Wins 2017 Golden Halo!”

1. Another fun and informative season AND what a terrific hymn. What fun to see Flo make it all the way through to the Golden Halo! It takes a lot of inspired wisdom to save lives with soap, vinegar, and fresh air!

   Thanks to all on the SEC for Lent Madness 2017. Until next time...

2. Even though I am an RN, NP.

3. Joyful indeed! I have followed Lenten Madness for several years and THIS YEAR I finally picked the winner from the start. Being a Nurse, in my mind, Flo was the only choice from the beginning. Once again I have met and learned so much about Saints/saints I never heard of before and for that I thank you. Now it is the dismal wait until nest year .... sigh!

4. It seems just right that on Maundy Thursday a disciple willing to wash the feet of others and follow the commandment that we love one another should be crowned with the golden halo.

   My nine year old twins and I have enjoyed this so much. That is, SEC!

5. While I did vote for Franz, Florence is a wonderful example to all of us. What about a Franz stein? You did it for Bridget... Thanks for a wonderful Lenten season of learning about people who followed our Lord no matter what.

6. I had Franz early in Lenten Madness, as Vegas had him winning as well. Lot of collection basket money lost. I am kidding and my normal alms will be there this week. In all seriousness, this was my first one, and it was fun. I had the book, but the daily posts on here were worth the price of admission. Great fun, congratulations to Florence Nightingale, and I look forward to 2018!

7. Although the glass ceiling was broken centuries ago for female saints, this victory does take away a bit of the sting of November's defeat! Special kudos to Sister Diana's 'Ode to Flo,'
   which should be sung at least once this Easter season [in honor of today's victory], on August 12, her Episcopal saint day, celebrated for a short time but now put on hold, and as many times as Lutherans allow! May Beethoven hear loudly and clearly these new sweet lyrics, which will even bring a smile to Flo's 'tired from nursing' face! Thanks to Tim and Scott and all their volunteer staff who brought many odes to joy to many Lent Madness fans throughout Lent! And to Sister Diana for her daily saint hymn lyrics! And now, I return to sermon writing!

8. Thanks for such a fun way to learn the saints! It gave me something to look forward to each morning. Even though it was my first time, I did pretty well and won with Flo! My church's intern, who was responsible for bringing this Lent Madness to our attention, kept track of everyone's bracket sheets and announced I had won the most picks. He presented me with the purple Golden Halo mug which I use every morning and am tickled to have it! I can't wait for next year!!

9. I have thoroughly enjoyed this year's LM, even though Franz--my pick from the beginning--only captured the silver! In the very first round I only missed two of the choices, but it was a steady, if gradual, downhill slope from then on.

   But I have been missing Oliver and wondering what happened to him. Do we know?

   Thanks again for a fun ride--and a blessed Easter to all!

10. Flo wins!!!! Can't think of a better person to win it all! What great time for nurses and caretakers everywhere.

11. I miss Oliver...

    1. Oh...he disappeared! Where did he go?

       1. He's still around. I saw him post yesterday. Just not quite as active this year.

12. Many thanks SEC, celebrity bloggers and all who support Lent Madness. This has been a bleak feeling Lent for me so I've been especially grateful for the inspiring and cheering message of Lent Madness. I'm very happy to see Florence in her well-deserved Golden Halo. She not only exemplified the faith, love and service of Christianity at its best, but she was a revolutionary in her insights to improve caring for the ill and wounded, and a tactical genius in finding ways to implement them.

    1. Sandy, I will keep you in my prayers, that God will sustain you in this "bleak feeling Lent", and grant you peace. May your Easter be joyous.

13. Dear Sr. Diana,
    I think you should update this hymn as a more general hymn on the subject of being inspired by the saints.

    That last stanza especially is AMAZING! I'd love to sing those words on All Saints someday, but I wouldn't know what to do about the Lent Madness references 🙂

14. Thanks for a wonderful Lenten season of learning and fun. Have also enjoyed spreading the word about Lent Madness to many friends, who now have become converts! A Blessed Easter to all!

15. As a first timer to Lent Madness, I can tell you that it is fabulous! Our church, Advent Lutheran in Morgan Hill, CA, joined in and we've kept a big chart posted in the social hall, updated every day! Thanks for the wild ride and the thingsvthat I'd never would have learned without you!!!

16. Thank you for a wonderful season of Lent! This is the first year I faithfully voted for ever single contest, and I feel I learned so much! A little disappointed that Franz didn't get the golden halo, but, yes this does mean he'll be back next year, and Florence, too, is a wonderful saint. (I voted for both multiple times). Thanks, and see you next hear!

    1. I should add, but only once in each bracket!

17. Thank you for a wonderful Lent Madness! This was my first and I will definitely be back again in 2018. May you all have a very Blessed Easter!

18. Congratulations, Flo! And thanks to Sister Diane for the festal hymns to go along with Lent Madness this year.

19. Blessing to the SEC, Celebrity Bloggers, Diana!, first time visitors to Lent Madness and groupies. Yeah! we begin voting next year around Valentine’s Day, which happens to fall on Ash Wednesday. Diana, your poetic hymns have been amazing. Thank you for sharing your gift of poetry. I hope that the SEC presents you with a Florence Nightingale Golden Halo mug filled with kisses and a pound of good coffee.

20. Hymn For all the Saints of Lent Madness
    Tune: Grand Isle, Hymnal ’82, 293, I sing a song of the saints of God

    We sing our hymns of the saints of God
    Ancient and modern too.
    Who lived their faith in simple ways
    Or grand heroic moves.
    Some stories may have mythical design
    And some can be found in history’s lines.
    And they all had their failings and foibles too,
    But God poured out Grace anew.

    Each saint has something we need to learn;
    Each has a gift to give.
    Some stories seem implausible –
    Did this one even live?
    But like icons these saints and their stories too
    Serve as signs of God’s ways and what we can do
    As we live our own stories of Jesus’ love
    For God pours out Grace anew.

    What makes a saint? We might justly ask.
    Whence comes their worthiness?
    Sometimes their words and fumbling deeds
    Leave us scratching our heads.
    But the wonder is found in the countless ways
    Love is shown in fact or in mystic haze.
    For a saint is partly word and deed
    But more in unending Grace.

    1. Oh, Diana! That is wonderful.

    2. Diana, I've enjoyed your hymns, and today's two hymns are a perfect way to end Lent Madness this year.

       Happy Easter!

    3. This is perhaps my all time favorite hymn, courtesy of my beloved, sainted, British mother, who sang it as a child. Your version is just as lovely and relatable as the original! Thank you Diana! What a blessing your poems and hymns have been.

    4. Diana - your hymnody and rhyming would have delighted my mother, who was a 50+ year church organist, English/Latin major. She could whip up a 20+ paragraph poem in honor of a friend who was retiring, celebrating a choral concert, etc. in a day. Blessing and cheers to you for this lovely reminder. She is smiling, too. Can't wait until next year!

    5. Sr. Diana,
       Thank you so much for you hymns during Lent Madness. I have waited each day to read your words (and to see if I could sing the hymn without any help from The Hymnal!) Perhaps we shall meet one day, 'while at tea'.

       Thanks to excellent bloggers (as always) and to Fr. Tim and Scott for an outstanding Lent Madness.

21. My stepmother, a favorite cousin and two granddaughters, all nurses. I'm so glad Florence won,?

22. A blessed Holy Week and Happy Easter to everyone, and thanks to the SEC. Have a good year, everybody!

23. I've loved Lent Madness ever since I discovered it a few years ago. This year was great for so many saints new to me, and so many match-ups that allowed the more obscure saints to advance at least one round. Thanks to all who made that possible. By the way, I was just looking at the Wall of Fame and the bracket record for 2016 does not appear to be there. Can this be corrected?

24. May God richly Bless Sister Diana for sharing her wonderful gifts with all of us.
    May God Bless all of You who walk in His ways.
    May you all have a joyous Easter.
    Love,
    Pam

25. I thought this was the best Lent Madness since I found it (even though I normally picked the underdog). It was a real learning experience. Diana, I hope you are planning to continue writing your hymns. They truly added a new dimension. Joyous Easter to all.

26. Sister Diana, Thank you for another charming hymn. This is a well earned golden halo and represents just one more example of Florence's impact.

27. It has been a blessing to patricipate!

28. Lent Madness gives me great meaning. I learn, I enjoy, I agree, I disagree. I have loved Diana's hymns this year. Go, Flo! Looking forward to 2018. Or maybe "looking to forward movement".

29. I've dabbled in Lent Madness for a couple years, but this is the first time I feel a true sense of poignant loss that it's over! I'm truly going to miss you guys - Scott and Tim and the celebrity bloggers. Blessings to all.

30. Blessings on Diane for her creative hymn writing. Although my selections did not win, I deeply enjoyed her literary expressions.